Our Firm

Billing Practices

In our experience, clients are more than willing to pay for the legal
services they receive, but do not appreciate being billed for every ancillary
activity of the law firm. We agree with that perspective. We try to establish
hourly rates that fairly compensate us for the legal work we provide, while
leaving the cost of routine office functions where it can be managed – with us.

Thus, unlike most law firms, Fletcher & Sippel LLC does not charge clients
for office copying, fax transmissions, long distance or local telephone calls,
computer research, secretarial overtime, postage and letter-sized overnight
packages. We regard these items as normal overhead, which is our responsibility.
Large copying projects, court reporters, expert witnesses, and travel expenses
for client business are billed back to the client at actual cost, and are
never "marked-up." Whether we bill for travel time depends on the nature of
the work and travel involved, and is always subject to prior understanding
with the client.

We encourage any kind of alternative billing arrangement that works well
for our clients. While most of our work is billed on a traditional hourly basis,
we have entered into contingent fees, blended rates, fee caps, volume discounts
and fixed fee arrangements. We are willing to consider these or other
arrangements that facilitate our clients' needs.